Black Market of Orkan
It is uncertain when the Black Market was born in Victubia, but records of its existence can be traced back to the time when England still had Victubia in its clutches. It is even believed that the Black Market was a direct consequence of the strict trading laws that the great empire inflicted on Victubia. High taxes for traders and limits of what could be traded made some of the Victubian people take matters into their own hands. England was especially strict on magic items and weapons, anything that could make it easier for Victubia to stand up to England. The Black Market started out as any marketplace, but with a focus on all things England was trying to restrict; magic and weapons. The market usually took place a few days a month in different locations outside of Orkan. The Black Market of Orkan started out as a protest, but it evolved into something much darker. Nowadays the Black Market is a daily marketplace that is always changing location. Weapons are still a big part of the market, and you can find a lot of them, from very common swords to elaborate machinery and explosives. You can still find magic items, uncommon herbs and old magic books, as well as rare (and often illegally obtained) furs, bones or body parts of both animals and humans, that are sometimes used in dangerous potions. You can find a lot of weird stuff at the market that you can’t find in other places. The most disturbing part of the Black Market, is it’s human trafficking. People can be taken to the market and be sold to the highest bidder. It used to be especially common to find shapeshifters being sold at the Black Market, because of their rarity. But you can find all kinds of people there, including children who are sometimes sold to pay off their parents debts. The location of the Black Market is always changing, and it’s said that it’s never in the same location twice. The locations are often abandoned factories or other kind of empty premises. Sometimes store- or hotel owners have been bought off to host the market for shorter periods of time (while the store/hotel is “closed for renovations”). This is making the market a lot harder to track down. The location of the market is shared between market regulars. Unless you know someone who regularly goes to the market or sell stuff there you will have a hard time finding it. The Black Market is run and funded by a group of people that just goes by the name “'The Group'”. Their identities are unknown to almost everyone, but it is suspected that some rich and powerful people are part of it. Because they are funding the market they take a part of the earnings the market gets. The Group never have direct contact with the market itself, but instead they leave it to a few carefully selected individuals, called “'The Tailors'”. The Tailors run the market with the help of their own workers, which are called “'The Ribbons'”. The Ribbons are the main staff at the market and usually consists of very young people, often kidnapped orphans or kids/teens picked up from the streets. They wear a black silk ribbon around their neck, to separate them from market goers or sellers. The Ribbons are the ones communicating with salesmen, making sure they have everything they need. They also deliver messages and do whatever The Tailors want of them. While Ribbons are the lowest workers at the market, they are “property” of The Tailors and the Black Market itself. Ribbons are off-limits, and no market goers or salesmen are allowed to touch or make use of the Ribbons without the permission of The Tailors. Ribbons usually work with the market for most of their lives, living and eating together and moving with the market. Once you are in the system, it’s hard escaping it. Ribbons know a lot of sensitive market information, which is why most of them can never leave the Black Market alive. There are exceptions of course, but most runaway Ribbons are hunted down and killed to make sure no information is leaked to the public. Mayor Desirée of Orkan has tried to track down the Black Market for as long as she has been a mayor. She has come close a couple of times, finding Ribbons willing to give her information in exchange for protection, but they were always mysteriously assassinated before Desirée got anything substantial out of them. Desirée is aware of the power of The Group and that they may have people among her own personnel, so she’s always very careful with who she trusts. Still, she refuses to give up her work and has sworn to take down the Black Market. Category:Lore Category:Locations Category:Terms